Method of making payment of vehicle charge for transport within a toll zone

ABSTRACT

A method for carrying out payment of a vehicle toll for travel within a zone subject to a toll. The vehicle is equipped with a transponder that can be read by a transmitter/receiver unit that transmits a query signal to the transponder. The transponder replies to the query signal and transfers information from a memory in the transponder to the transmitter/receiver unit, which is located at a boundary of the toll zone. The transmitter/receiver unit is connected to a supervisory computer system that debits the owner of the transponder when it is read. When the computer system has received information that a transponder has been read, the computer system sends an SMS message to the mobile telephone of the owner of the transponder, and/or an e-mail message to the mobile telephone of the owner or to a computer that is possessed by the owner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for carrying out payment of avehicle toll for travel within a toll zone.

2. Description of the Related Art

The application of tolls for the right to drive in by car has recentlybeen started in a number of towns.

A system exists in Oslo in which a toll must be paid when the vehiclepasses a toll station along the boundary of the city region that issubject to the toll. Payment may be made by subscribers through atransponder in the vehicle, the transponder being read each time thevehicle passes a toll station on its way into the city region.

The system that is now being used in London functions in the manner thatany person who wants to drive into the central part of London must payusing a fixed telephone, using SMS from a mobile telephone, using post,or at selected payment locations. Payment may be made before the driverdrives into the zone subject to the toll, or after the driver has driveninto the zone. Once the driver has driven into the zone, payment may bemade at the normal price before 22.00 o'clock.

The system in London functions, in contrast to the system in Oslo, suchthat a vehicle may pass into and out of the zone that is subject to thetoll an unlimited number of times during the period for which the tollhas been paid.

A number of video cameras are located within the zone that is subject tothe toll in London, and these video cameras photograph the registrationplates of the vehicles. The cameras are solely a means for checking. Theregistration numbers that are obtained from the cameras are comparedwith the registration numbers for which payment has been made. A fine islevied in the case in which a registration number is identified forwhich payment has not been made.

Even if in the London system payment can take place by the differentmethods described above, payment requires a positive action from adriver when he or she drives into the zone or after he or she has driveninto the zone. This is in the context time-consuming and can requirethat the vehicle must be stopped or must return to a payment location inorder to carry out the necessary payment.

Due to the different manners in which payment may be made and due to thefact that one may pass into the zone repeatedly following a singlepayment, it is desirable to be able to use an automatic payment systemand to obtain simply a confirmation that payment has been made.

The present invention offers a simple and inexpensive solution to theproblem of making a payment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention thus relates to a method for carrying out paymentof a vehicle toll for travel within a zone subject to a toll. Thevehicle in question is equipped with a transponder that can be read bymeans of a transmitter/receiver unit arranged to transmit a query signalto the transponder. The transponder is arranged to reply to the querysignal and at that time to transfer information from a memory in thetransponder to the transmitter/receiver unit. The transmitter/receiverunit is located at the boundaries of the toll zone and is connected to asupervisory computer system that debits the owner of the transponderwhen it is read. When the computer system has received information thata certain transponder has been read, the computer system sends an SMSmessage to the mobile telephone of the owner of the transponder, and/oran e-mail message to the mobile telephone of the owner, or to a computerthat is possessed by the owner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention will be described in more detail below, partially inassociation with an embodiment of the invention shown in the attacheddrawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows schematically a communication link; and

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of how the invention is used.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention concerns a method for carrying out payment of avehicle toll for travel within a zone subject to a toll. The vehicles inquestion are equipped with respective transponders 6, 8, 9. Eachtransponder 6, 8, 9 can be read by means of a transmitter/receiver unit10, 11, 12 that is arranged to transmit a query signal to thetransponder 6, 8, 9 in question. The transponder is arranged to reflectthe query signal that is modulated by information contained in a memoryin the transponder, and the transmitter/receiver unit is arranged toreceive the reflected and modulated query signal.

Different automatic identification systems that use radio frequencies,known as “RFID” (Radio Frequency Identification) systems are available,which systems contain identification tags (ID-tags) and communicators.The applicant supplies such identification systems.

It is appropriate that the ID-tag is applied to the inner surface of thewindscreen of the vehicle that is to be identified. The identity can beread by a communicator located at a certain short distance, such as, forexample, 5-10 meters. It is also possible, depending on the design, toread and write other information into the ID-tag with the aid of thecommunicator, in addition to reading and writing an identity.

The relatively short range makes it possible to communicate with theID-tags within a geographically limited region of communication.

It is preferred that such an RFID-system is used when realizing thepresent invention.

A communication unit for the identification of vehicles is shown inFIG. 1. The communication unit comprises a transponder 1 and acommunicator 2 in the form of a receiver/transmitter unit. Thecommunicator 2 is arranged to transmit a query signal 3 to thetransponder 1. The transponder is arranged to receive the query signaland thereby reflect and modulate the query signal. The communicator 2 isarranged to receive the reflected signal 4 and to decode its informationcontent.

The information in reflected signal 4 contains at least informationabout the registration number of the vehicle, or a code that can beassociated with the registration number of the vehicle.

The transmitter/receiver units 10, 11, 12 are located at the boundariesof the zone, appropriately in a portal that extends over all lanes ofthe road. It is appropriate that one transmitter/receiver unit isavailable for each lane. The transmitter/receiver unit thus readstransponders that pass under the portal.

The transmitter/receiver units 10, 11, 12 are connected to a supervisorycomputer system including a database 7 and a computer 16. The connectionto the supervisory computer system 5, 16 can be made by means of cable,radio, W-Lan, GSM/GPRS/G3, or similar.

The computer system 16 debits the owner of the transponder the toll thathas been set when the transponder is read.

The computer system, according to the invention, when it has receivedinformation that a certain transponder has been read, transmits an SMSmessage to the mobile telephone 15 of the owner of the respectivetransponder 6, 8, 9, and/or an e-mail message to the mobile telephone 15of the owner, or to a computer 14 that is possessed by the owner.

According to one preferred embodiment, the SMS message or the e-mailmessage contains information about the time period that is covered bythe payment that has been made.

It is further preferred that the computer system 16 debits an account ora credit card that belongs to the owner.

Reference numeral 13 in FIG. 2 denotes the above-mentioned cameras. Theregistration numbers that have been read by means of the cameras 13 arestored in the database 7, after which the computer 16 compares theregistration numbers that have been read with the registration numbersof vehicles for which payments have been made by means of the reading oftransponders.

The arrows in FIG. 2 pointing into the database 7 illustrate that theinformation in the transponders and the information in the communicatorsis transferred to the database 7.

The present invention can, instead of the design that is shown in FIG.2, be applied in a separate computer system with a computer anddatabase, which separate computer system is connected to the computersystem 16, 7.

It is apparent that the present invention solves the problems that aredescribed above.

A number of embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove. It is, however, clear that these can be modified.

The present invention is, for this reason, not to be considered aslimited to the embodiments described above. The invention can be variedwithin the scope of the accompanying claims.

1. A method for carrying out payment of a vehicle toll for travel withina zone subject to a toll, where the vehicle in question is equipped witha transponder (6, 8, 9) that can be read by means of atransmitter/receiver unit (10, 11, 12) arranged to transmit a querysignal to the transponder, where the transponder (6, 8, 9) is arrangedto reply to the query signal and at this time to transfer informationinto a memory in the transponder, and where the transmitter/receiverunit (10, 11, 12) is arranged to receive this information, whichtransmitter/receiver unit is located at the boundaries of the zone andis connected to a supervisory computer system (16), which computersystem is caused to debit the owner of the transponder (6, 8, 9) when itis read, characterised in that, when the computer system (16) hasreceived information that a certain transponder (6, 8, 9) has been read,the computer system (16) is caused to send an SMS message to the mobiletelephone (15) of the owner of the transponder and/or an e-mail messageto the mobile telephone (15) of the owner or to a computer (14) that ispossessed by the said owner.
 2. A method according to claim 1,characterised in that the said SMS message or the said e-mail messagecontains information about the time that is covered by the payment.
 3. Amethod according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the computersystem (16) is caused to debit an account or a credit card that belongsto the owner.
 4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized inthat the said transponder (6, 8, 9) is an RFID transponder.